My committee didn’t investigate Diezani in Senate – Makarfi

The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said the Senate Committee on
Finance headed by him did not investigate a former Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke in 2015.

Makarfi told journalists in Kaduna that his panel was saddled
with the responsibility of probing the financial records of the
NNPC.

He said, “We did not investigate her (Diezani). We investigated
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the proceeds of
sale of crude that NNPC was supposed to have remitted to the
federation account and for the period of either 15 or 16
months.

“Our report made it clear that there were several aspects under
her ministry that we did not look into because we were not mandated
to do that like the issue of swaps, strategic alliances, sale of
oil blocks, investments and other issues.

“Still, within the area we investigated, our report was clear
that over N1bn was not accounted for even though some agencies such
as NPDC accepted that some hundreds of millions (naira) were in
their accounts waiting for reconciliation before they could be
remitted.

“We were asked to follow up when the senate approved that
report, so we wrote series of letters to confirm whether the
remittances had been done, but maybe because we were leaving
office, our letters were ignored.

“The report is there. We never cleared anybody. We were not
asked to investigate her as a person but NNPC as an institution.
They owned up to everything, only that they could not account for
everything and our report showed that.”

On the issue of a former governor, James Ibori, Makarfi said
since he had served his sentence, he is free to join any political
party and participate in politics.

He said, “The law prevents him from holding public office for
some time and if we apply the law, we should not deny him his
constitutional right to participate in politics.

“Participating in politics does not mean occupying public
office. Why are prisoners allowed to vote? It is because they have
the constitutional right. So an ex-convict has the right to
participate in anything the law allows.”

On the issue of corruption, Makarfi said the PDP would be able
to give proper assessment of the All Progressives Congress in 2019
after its exit from power.

He said, “By 2019, when we take over, we are not going to be
vindictive but the truth will prevail.”

The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said the Senate Committee on
Finance headed by him did not investigate a former Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke in 2015.

Makarfi told journalists in Kaduna that his panel was saddled
with the responsibility of probing the financial records of the
NNPC.

He said, “We did not investigate her (Diezani). We investigated
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the proceeds of
sale of crude that NNPC was supposed to have remitted to the
federation account and for the period of either 15 or 16
months.

“Our report made it clear that there were several aspects under
her ministry that we did not look into because we were not mandated
to do that like the issue of swaps, strategic alliances, sale of
oil blocks, investments and other issues.

“Still, within the area we investigated, our report was clear
that over N1bn was not accounted for even though some agencies such
as NPDC accepted that some hundreds of millions (naira) were in
their accounts waiting for reconciliation before they could be
remitted.

“We were asked to follow up when the senate approved that
report, so we wrote series of letters to confirm whether the
remittances had been done, but maybe because we were leaving
office, our letters were ignored.

“The report is there. We never cleared anybody. We were not
asked to investigate her as a person but NNPC as an institution.
They owned up to everything, only that they could not account for
everything and our report showed that.”

On the issue of a former governor, James Ibori, Makarfi said
since he had served his sentence, he is free to join any political
party and participate in politics.

He said, “The law prevents him from holding public office for
some time and if we apply the law, we should not deny him his
constitutional right to participate in politics.

“Participating in politics does not mean occupying public
office. Why are prisoners allowed to vote? It is because they have
the constitutional right. So an ex-convict has the right to
participate in anything the law allows.”

On the issue of corruption, Makarfi said the PDP would be able
to give proper assessment of the All Progressives Congress in 2019
after its exit from power.

He said, “By 2019, when we take over, we are not going to be
vindictive but the truth will prevail.”